Hemp-machine



' A. ELDRED.

NG HEMP AND FLAX.

N01 6,371 Patented Apr. 24, 1849.

3 Shets-Sheet 2.

A. ELDRED.

NG AND CLEANING HEMP AND FLAX.

MACHINE FOR BREAKI No. 6,371.

Patented Apr. 24, 1849.

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wmn/ A. ELDRED. MACHINE FOR BREAKING AND CLEANING HEMP AND PLAX.

No. 6,371. PatentedApr. 24, 1849.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

ALLEN ELDRED, OF OPPENHEIM, NEW YORK.

HEMP-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 6,37 dated April 24, 1849.

To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, ALLEN ELDRED, of Oppenheim, in the county of Fulton and State of New Yo rk, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Breaking and Cleaning Hemp and Flax; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character which distinguishes it from all other things before known, and of the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is an elevation of the right-hand side of the machine; Fig. 2, alike elevation of the left-hand side, and Fig. 3 a longitudinal vertical section.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The hemp o'r fla-X is broken in my improved machine by passing between a series of geared and interlocking fluted rollers, the first and second sets having large flutes and the third and fourth sets smaller ones, that the woody part broken by the first and second sets may be rebroken by the remaining sets. The first, second, and third sets are arranged in the same plane, or nearly so, that the hemp may pass through between them either in ahori upon by rotating beatersor blades to beat or knock out the broken wood on the upper surface, and then pass between the lower roller of the third set and the upper one of the last set, and lie on the tips of the flutes or cogs of the upper roller of the last set in passing down to and between the last set, and then be acted upon by another set of rotating heaters or blades to beat or knock out the broken wood from the opposite side.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment of the two sets of revolving beaters, which act on the opposite sides of the hemp or flax to beat out the broken wood when com or reduced into shorter pieces.

bined with the fluted breakingrollers, arranged so that the hemp or flax lies on the periphery or peripheries of" one ormore of the said rollers, which thus answer the douhie purpose of breakers and moving rests for the hemp while being beaten.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents a frame properly adapted to the purpose, and b a feed-board, on which the attendant spreads out -and lays the hem p or flax to be broken,

and from this it passes between a pair of fluted rollers, c a, placed one above the other at such distance apart as to have the flutes mesh into one another, and toallowthe hemp or flax to pass through as the .woody part is broken into lengths corresponding with the width of the flutes. From this set of rollers the hemp or flax partly broken passes to a second set of rollers, d d, made and arranged in manner similar to theflrslaon thesame level, and. at

such distance from the first set as toturn clear of them. From the second set the hemp or flax passes to athird set, 0 e, made and arranged in manner similar to the first and second sets, except that the flutes are about onethird narrower, that the woody part broken by the first and second-sets shall be rebroken As the hemp or flax passes from the bite of this third set ofrollers its weight causes it to pull or hang over the cogs or flutes oi the lower one of the third set of rollers,. and as it passes down the broken wood is beaten or knocked out of the fibers by the edges of arotating beater, f, consisting of. four blades attached to heads 'on a shaft; andthe beating-edges of these heaters are placed so far from the periphery of the breaking-roller as to act on the fibers to knock or beat out the broken pieces of wood, 'and at the same time the action of the heaters throws the fibers toward the bite of the lower one of the third set of rollers and the upper roller of a fourth set, g g, placed below the line of the other sets. After passing between theupper roller, g, and the lower one of the set e, that side of the hemp. or flax which has previously been beaten lies on the periphery of the up per roller, 9, and then its other surface is acted upon by another set of rotating heaters, h,

that knock out the remaining pieces of bro-.

ken wood, and from thence the hemp, 820.,

passes between the two rollers g g and is deliver-ed onto an apron, i, that passes around two rollers, jg}, and is by the motion of this apron delivered in a cleansed state. Two curved guard-plates, k and Z, are used to catch the pieces of broken wood and other impurities as they are beaten out by the rotating boaters, and to prevent themi'romi'alling into the flutes of the breaking-rollers and clogging them. The distance between the first, second, and third sets of breakers should be just sufiicient to permit the loose'pie'ees of broken wood to fall out, and the bite of these three sets should be as nearly in a line as conven ient; but the fourth or last set is placed so near the third or preceding one, and so much below, as to have the lower one of the third set mesh into the upper one of the fourth set, as fully represented in the drawings. lly this arrangement the lower roller of the thirdset and the upper one of the fourth set become the curved and movable rests for the hemp or flax while acted upon by the two sets of beatcrs, while at the same time they have the effect to reverse the hemp or flax, that it may be cleaned on both sides. The sets of rollers are carried or turned in the direct-ion indicated bythe arrows by trains of eogqvlieels n, &c., and the heaters that move with great velocity are carried by bolts 1-, so that by shifting the pulleys on the arbors ofthe beaters and substituting others of different diamcters their relative velocities can be regulated at pleasure. For the purpose ot'adiust in: the edges of the heaters relatively to the periphery of the two rollers against which they beat or clean the hemp or flax, their journals are hung in plates 8, that are secured to the frame by bolts that either pass through elongated holes, or the plates are provided with a series of holes. 1

I have described the boaters as consisting each of four blades attached to heads on a shaft so arranged that the edges of these blades may act on the hemp, the; but I do not'wish to coniine myself to this mode of construction, as

any known mode of constructing: the heaters-- will to a certain extent answer the purpose;

be made of the size usually adopted in hemp-.

breaking machines, and on the two last sets they should be from one-third to one-half of the size adopted in the first and second; but it should be remembered that I do not wish to limit mysell'to thenumber 01' sets described, as this may be varied. It will, however, be found that four sets answer a good, ill not the best, purpose.

\Vhat I claim as my invent-ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of the rotating heaters, in combination with the arrangement of the two breaking-rollers, which reverse the hemp or flax, that both sides may beacted on in succession, and which constitute moving rests to sustain and move the hemp or flax while acted upon by the rotating heaters, substantially as described.

ALLEN ELDRED.

Witnesses: 

